SEC settles with fired chief investigator for $580,000

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled with its former chief investigator who claimed the agency fired him to cover up the very wrongdoing he was investigating.

David Weber joined the agency last year, and quickly thereafter reported that former Inspector General H. David Kotz had allegedly engaged in unethical conduct. Following his termination, Weber sued the SEC in November 2012, claiming he was fired to stop his investigations. Responding to SEC employees who claimed he carried an illegal weapon on duty, Weber said he had a license for the gun he kept in his car.

Under the settlement, the SEC will pay Weber $580,000, and revise his personnel records to say that he voluntarily resigned and was in good standing.

Cary Hansel, Weber’s attorney, called for more investigation of Weber’s allegations, Bloomberg reports. “We have obtained justice for Mr. Weber, but that is only the beginning,” he said. “This entire affair started when the SEC sought to silence Mr. Weber and bury the concerns he raised.”